Alice's Christmas Memory
by DarylDixon'sgirl1985
Summary: A young healer in St. Mungos gets Alice Longbottom to tell her her earliest Christmas memory.


**Hey everyone. This story was brought to you by Northern Funfair's Ice Fishing, Southern Funfair's The Nativity, Eastern Funfair's Snow Art, Pinata Club, Galleons Club, Assorted Appreciation, Hogwarts Sticker Album, and Winter Challenge on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Also for Shipping Wars, and Winter Bingo on Monthly Challenges for All. **

**Northern Funfair's Ice Fishing: D5 (pairing) Frank/Alice**

**Southern Funfair's The Nativity: Baby Jesus - Write about someone's earliest memories**

**Eastern Funfair's Snow Art: Orange (weather) snow flurry, Purple (traits) generous, and Pink (actions) ice skating**

**Pinata Club: Easy Het Pairings**

**Galleons Club: (plot point) a snowball fight**

**Assorted Appreciation: "What is your favorite Christmas memory?"**

**Hogwarts Sticker Album: Snow - Write about having fun in the snow**

**Winter Challenge: (object) snowman**

**Shipping Wars: Ship (Team) Frank Longbottom/Alice Longbottom List (Prompt) Winter Medium 1 List (Snow Day), Word count is 1,304 words**

**Winter Bingo: 4C (light), Word count is 1,304 words.**

**Warning for fluff, and mentions of canon torture after affects. Word count is 1,304 words. I hope you all enjoy Alice's Christmas Memory. **

"What is your favorite Christmas memory, Alice?" the young Healer at St. Mungos asked her patient. She could swear that sometimes the older woman had moments of lucidity. Not many but they were there. She swore they were. "The earliest memory you can remember is good." She hoped that would be helpful for the woman.

"A snowball fight with my Frank," the woman murmured, looking at the bed next to her. A tear rolling down her cheek.

"Can you tell me about the memory, Alice?" The look of lucidity leaves the woman's face and the young healer knows she's losing her opportunity. She has to get Alice to remember something before it's too late. "Alice…"

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"Alice," Frank's voice calls through the falling snow, as ball of the cold substance comes flying at her, "I got you."

Alice shrieks as the cold substance hits her and falls apart. "Not fair, Frankie," she calls, bending down and scooping up a bunch of snow. She shaped into a ball. "You better watch your back." She said sneaking up on him from behind the snowman they'd just made.

"Not fair, Alice," Frank said, as he wiped snow out of his hair and off of his face. "What was that for?"

"You started this snowball fight," Alice crowed, making yet another snowball for herself. She moved behind a bush on the Hogwarts ground. "Why did you end up staying here for the Christmas holiday anyway? Doesn't your mother want you to come home?" She couldn't help the jealous tone she held. She wished her parents wanted her to come home for Christmas but her family life wasn't the best.

"She said that it was alright if I stayed here," Frank replied, as he made his own pile of snowballs.

"But why?"

"I told her that I wanted to stay because a friend of mine needed me to," Frank said, a blush coloring his face that he hoped that Alice couldn't see. "We are friends, right?"

Alice felt a surge of disappointment go through her. She had been hoping that they were something more than friends. "I guess we're friends," she said throwing a snowball straight at his head.

Frank ducked the snowball wondering what he had said to upset Alice so much. He was about to ask her when she started to trudge back towards the castle.

"Alice," Frank called after, trying to wrack his brain for what he'd said to upset her. He replayed the conversation in his head for sometime. Until he figured it out. Alice wanted to be more than friends.

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The young healer blinked in surprise as Alice stopped mid story. She wasn't sure that the older woman was aware she was even telling the story to someone. But she'd sit here and listen either way.

"What happens next, Alice?" she asked, letting the brunette woman know that she was listening. That someone was listening. Even though the woman didn't even know she was there. "Continue your story. Alice…"

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Frank had finally figured out what he'd said to upset Alice but he didn't know how to fix the problem his big mouth had created. He wanted to start dating Alice but he didn't know how to start dating Alice. He'd asked some of his friends and they'd all told him differing ideas that weren't to his taste. They weren't Frank's idea of a good start to a relationship.

"You should try doing something she likes," Marlene McKinnon suggested from behind him. "I know Alice enjoys ice skating."

"Ice skating?"

"Yes, dummy," Marlene laughed. "The Black Lake has been frozen for a while now. Maybe you could suggest an ice skating date."

Marlene was onto something. But the only problem was that Frank hadn't a clue how to ice skate. He'd never done it in his entire life. But Alice was so generous to him that he'd do anything to make her happy, and he knew that this date probably would.

Looking out the window at the slightly graying sky indicating that it was going to start snowing yet again, he walked off to go find Alice. He knew exactly where she'd be. The only place she could be. The Herbology greenhouses.

He gathered his cloaks against him as he made his way down to the greenhouses. He hoped it wasn't too late to ask Alice on a date. She had been rather upset when he'd called her a friend, but did she want to be more than friends.

"It's too late second guess yourself now, Frank," he muttered to himself, as he saw Alice tending to the plants in the greenhouse with their Herbology Professor.

She seemed to be talking rather animatedly about something to the older woman. Something that seemed to upset her.

Opening the door Frank caught the tail end of the conversation. He knew he should make his presence known but he wanted to know how Alice felt.

"I just wish he'd ask me out," Alice sighed, as she finished watering one of the plants on the opposite side of the greenhouse. "You know what I mean, Professor?"

The Professor cleared her throat. "Perhaps you should ask him on a date?" the older woman asked. "No one says the woman can't ask the man out. Now have they?"

"But that's how it's supposed to happen, Professor. The man's supposed to ask the woman out, not the other way around."

"But why not?"

"I don't know. That's how my mother told me things were done." She heard the door close, not bothering to turn around. "Professor? Professor?"

"She had to attend to something in another greenhouse," Frank said, walking towards Alice. "Can I help you with anything?"

"I'm done here," she said pushing past Frank to get to the door.

"That's good because I was wondering if you would like to go ice skating at the lake with me before it snows again," Frank said, watching Alice's face nervously.

Alice's face turned from a mask of ice that she was trying to hold onto, to one of pure happiness. "But I don't have my…."

Frank held up two pairs of ice skates. His own unused pair and Alice's overly loved pair of ice skates. "Marlene got me your ice skates from the girl's dormitory," he told her. "We can go from here, if you like?"

"I'd love to," she said, as she saw the snow flurries start to fall from the sky. She grabbed Frank's hand and pulled him towards the lake. She sat down on the shore of the lake and put her ice skates on.

Frank nervously followed suit. He was hoping that she wouldn't make fun of his minimal ice skating skills.

"Come on, Frank," Alice called, holding out her hand to him.

"Alice, there's a bit of a problem with…."

"Don't worry. I'll teach you."

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Alice teaching Frank how to ice skate. Then the two of skating hand in hand with each other. Alice couldn't think of any better way to spend the perfect snow day, or better yet a date day.

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"Is that one of your favorite Christmas memories, Alice?" the young healer asked as the older woman came to an end of her story.

"Who are you?" Alice asked fear coloring her voice. She looks towards the other bed, and moved into a protective stance. She didn't know who the man in the bed was but she knew she had to protect him at all costs.

"It's alright, Alice. I'm one of your healers. You're at St. Mungos. You are alright."

Alice relaxed a little at these pronouncements which good in the young healers mind. There might be a light at the end of the tunnel if she could just get Alice and Frank to remember who they were.

**I hope you all enjoyed the Alice's Christmas Memory as much as I enjoyed writing it. **


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